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Neeraj Chauhan secured a bronze medal in the men's individual recurve archery event after edging compatriot Dhiraj Bommadevara in an all-Indian medal clash at the Asian Games here on Saturday.
Neeraj held his nerve in a closely fought contest to beat Dhiraj 6-4, overcoming an early setback and sealing the medal with a perfect 10 in the final set, according to ESPN. Dhiraj began the bronze medal match with a 7, followed by a 9 and a 10, while Neeraj shot 10, 9 and 10 to take the opening set 29-26 and move 2-0 ahead. Dhiraj responded strongly in the second set, shooting 8, 10 and 10 for 28. Neeraj managed 10, 8 and 9 for 27 as the Indian levelled the contest at 2-2. Dhiraj then took control in the third set, shooting 10, 9 and 10 while Neeraj finished with 10, 9 and 9. The 29-28 set win put Dhiraj 4-2 ahead. Neeraj fought back in the fourth set, producing three 10s for a 30 while Dhiraj managed 9, 9 and 9. The 30-27 scoreline levelled the match at 4-4 and set up a decisive fifth set. Dhiraj opened the final set with an 8, but recovered with back-to-back 10s to finish on 28. Neeraj responded with 10, 9 and 10 to score 29 and seal the bronze medal. Earlier, Dhiraj had reached the bronze medal contest after losing 3-7 to South Korea's Lee Wooseok in the semifinal, while Neeraj was beaten 1-7 by Japan's Junya Nakanishi. The bronze capped a strong campaign for India's recurve archers, with Kumkum Mohod creating history earlier in the day by winning the women's individual recurve gold. The 17-year-old defeated South Korea's Oh Yejin in a shoot-off after the final was tied 5-5. Kumkum held her nerve to shoot a 10 after Oh managed an 8, becoming the first Indian woman to win an individual recurve medal at the Asian Games. Kumkum had already won women's recurve team gold with Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma and mixed recurve team silver with Dhiraj on Friday. India's archery campaign at the Asian Games concluded with nine medals -- five gold, two silver and two bronze -- across recurve and compound events. The addition of Neeraj's bronze took India's overall medal tally to 80, including 18 gold, 26 silver and 36 bronze, at the time of writing. (ANI)
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